


Up All Night

by thingsishouldntbedoing - discontinued (arminoni)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Radio, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-06
Updated: 2013-11-22
Packaged: 2017-12-31 16:59:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1034108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arminoni/pseuds/thingsishouldntbedoing%20-%20discontinued
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Out of college, desperate for a job, Eren Jaeger takes on the challenge of helping a failing radio station back to its former glory. His nightly radio show "Up All Night" is an instant hit. But you don't make it to the top without stepping on some toes. The biggest jockey in the city takes notice and issues a challenge: bring it on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Don't turn your radio down.

**Author's Note:**

> This idea just came to me last night and I couldn't help myself. I've desperately needed a break from Metronome's absolute misery and the depression caused by literally every other EreRi fic I'm writing... so you guys got this.
> 
> There will be song lyrics at the beginning sometimes, and of course the music will be mentioned within the fic. Not everything is contemporary, there's going to be so much music.
> 
> Lyrics at the beginning indicate what I'm listening to.
> 
>  **tumblr:** thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
>  **tracking:** fic: up all night

  
_Got your Rhymes going round in my head_  
 _Got your supersonic beats mixing up my Keds_  
 _So dance little DJ come on_  
 _What's your name?_

  
_I wanna move but I don't feel right_  
 _Cause you've been playing other peoples songs all night_  
 _So tell me what you're trying to say_

‘Rollover DJ’ - Jet

* * *

 

He sipped his coffee, shoving his hand deeper into his pocket as he walked through the front doors of the brick building that proudly announced it was the “Home of 99.9 The Corps”. It had once been a warehouse, restored and renovated for the Corps crew and their station a year before. Levi wasn’t sure why they needed such a massive space, it was expensive to heat which left him freezing his balls off in his office and sweating immensely in the recording booth. And the most unfortunate part was how quickly the already piss-poor excuse for coffee chilled.

“Hey Levi,” the receptionist, Petra was her name, looked up from her computer as he passed.

“Mmph…” he took a swig of his coffee. “‘Mornin’ Petra.”

“It’s… 2:30 in the afternoon…” she stared at him blankly, eyes flickering over the way his inky black hair fell over his brows. “Oh uh Erwin wants to see you in his office.”

“He can lick my ass,” he replied pleasantly as he walked up the steel stairs to the recording loft and looked out over the cubicles on the floor below. Newswriters, talent scouts, and record trackers all huddled together and passed memos. It was a slow day that ‘morning’, at least.

“Levi!” Erwin’s deep voice boomed him out of his reverie and he turned a sour face towards him. “I asked Petra to send you--”

“Yeah, yeah I got the message… what do you want? My ratings are fine.”

“It’s not your ratings that are the problem, meet me in my office in ten minutes.” Erwin was the station manager, and a damned good one at that… if Levi had anything to say about it anyway. He kept everyone running like a well oiled machine and made sure every month the station was in the black. Whether that meant _ruthlessly_ cutting jobs or leasing Levi out to commercials; Levi always seemed to be the point of contention.

* * *

“Jesus… Jesus H Christ!” Eren sprinted up the back stairs to the shack they affectionately called ‘The Shithole’ and announced his presence to the front office by nearly falling over the threshold. “I’m so sorry!” He jerked the beanie off his long brown locks.

“Eren!” Armin caught his arm as he passed by, swinging him around. “Jean’s here and he wants to talk to you, okay?”

“Y-Yeah--” As if Eren wanted to talk to his boyfriend _right now_. “I don’t really want to talk, I’m busy,” he breezed past the break room and into their work room with all its mismatched couches and low slung tables, throwing his messenger bag down onto a broken cushion and slapping his hand down on his computer. “Hey!” He dropped his headphones around his neck. “Armin I want you to hear this!” He called as the blonde trailed after him, clucking his tongue like a mother hen.

“Eren! Didn’t you hear him say that Jean’s been here?” His sister asked critically as she opened her booth door.

“I know, I got this new band, though--”

“EREN!” Armin barked, swatting him upside the head, “He’s been waiting, go talk to him.”

“A’ight ow!” Eren rubbed the side of his head, shooting his best friend a look and shuttling off for the break room. “Hey Armin said you--” Jean caught the fabric of Eren’s jacket in his fingers and pulled him over to silence whatever words were about to come out next. “Mmhm,” Eren grabbed his forearms for support, and smiled when their lips collided again. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Those little shits got a half day today,” he replied and licked Eren’s lips, sliding his tongue into his mouth as Eren pushed him up against the counter.

“I’ve been so busy lately, sorry,” Eren said between kisses, enjoying the warmth of Jean’s arms around his waist.

“Hey! I said talk to him not fuck him in the break room!” Armin said from the doorway and they broke apart, Eren grinning as he wiped his mouth. “Alright you came and you saw him, he’s got work to do.” The willowy blonde tapped his clipboard against his palm grumpily.

“I need to talk to you tonight,” Jean murmured against his ear and Eren nodded.

“Tomorrow morning, when I come home?” Eren asked under his best friend’s ever watchful eye.

“Sure,” Jean caught his fingers in his hair. “If you actually come home,” even Armin caught the touch of bitterness in his voice.

Eren chewed his bottom lip, “Look I apologized for that…” he glanced to his best friend. “Let’s just talk about it later, okay? Not here.”

“Sure…” Jean said it again and released him. “Promise you’ll be home tonight?”

“Scout’s honor,” Eren held his fist to his heart.

“Eren!” Another female voice cut the air. “Eren you have to come listen to this!”

“Coming Annie!” He started off for the door but paused to glance at his boyfriend. “I promise, okay?”

“Sure,” yet another noncommittal response as Eren turned the corner.

* * *

“So what the hell do you want?” Levi finally made his way to the rather _posh_ office, for lack of a better word. Levi thought the solid oak desk was a bit too flashy for their line of work but the clean lines of everything else in the room pleased his senses.

“Shut the door and sit down,” Erwin said in his most authoritative voice.

“Oooh he’s going to hate you~” A voice said from the couch against the wall of the office.

“Jesus what’s Hanji doing here?” Levi glanced over at the audio tech with her wacky horn-rimmed glasses and-- “Jesus are you kidding me? A poodle skirt? Are you fucking serious right now? Am I fucking high?”

“That’s a question only you can answer,” Hanji said mysteriously.

“You’re a different god damned person every day, shitty glasses.”

“And you’re the same person everyday: fussy and unapproachable.”

“Well at least I’m not wearing a fucking zoo on my clothes,” Levi fired back.

“Enough!” Erwin shut them down and Levi looked back at him, irritation evident. “I brought you in here to listen to something, not to argue with Hanji,” he clicked on something, turning away from them.

The tail end of a song drifted beneath a young, rough voice over the speakers of the computer: _“Welcome back and thank you for tuning in to_ Up All Night with DJ Jaeger, _here on 104 point 5 WSRM. The show that doesn’t stop until you do. That was_ Wake Me Up _by Avicii one of my favorite new songs; speaks to my collegiate sensibilities. Next up is a solid half hour of requests straight from Sina City.”_

“What the hell is this?” Levi asked critically, but the sound of the jock’s laughter clung to his brain and it was all he could do to rub his fingers against his undercut to try and wash it away.

“Your new competition,” Erwin answered, lacing his fingers together. “New kid that’s broadcasting from that defunct station that closed down a few months ago. Or at least I thought they had.”

“No they just went off the air, hadn’t paid their fees in a while…” Hanji interjected. “I heard him last night on the way home, he’s pretty cute.”

“Like hell he is, what time does he go?”

“Ten to two. They’re directing their radars right at the collegiate audience; grabbing for straws I thought… Until I found out that your numbers dropped distinctly.”

“I don’t give a shit, they’ll get bored of him eventually and I won’t have to worry about it,” Levi dismissed. “They don’t have enough cash to worry us anyway.”

“Don’t be so sure, they’ve got a website up and running and this kid has a Twitter following already,” Erwin twirled his pen around his fingers and Levi watched the way the thick muscles in his wrist twisted with the movement.

“So what? I’m going to get some recs done, okay?” Levi rose. “Some pissant dicklicker isn’t about to have me shaking in my boots,” he dropped his coffee cup in the trash. “Send somebody to Starbucks I’m tired of the piss water you call coffee.”

“He’s crabby,” Hanji watched him go, grinning against the pen she’d been chewing on.

“He’s trying to find out how many times he can use the word piss in one sentence before somebody calls him on it,” Erwin grumbled.

“Are you really worried? I mean yeah that kid’s smooth but… he can’t drop Levi’s ratings that much right?” She stood up and stretched.

“Hanji if I had all the answers life would be a boring-as-fuck place and we wouldn’t need people like Levi to make interns lick his shoes clean,” he rubbed his temples.

“Now you know he’d never have them do that, he hates saliva.”

“Hanji get out before my headache gets worse.”

“ _Yessir_ Commander, sir!” She saluted and with a swirl of her hot pink poodle skirt she was gone.

“Shut the goddamned door!” Erwin called and a frantic-looking intern managed to slap it closed before he could yell again.

* * *

“Here’s to you hipsters out there: Two Door Cinema Club is heading to Sina City in January at the Bailey’s Club downtown. We’ll be giving away a pair of backstage passes here in an hour so keep your phones _handy~_ ” Eren purred into the spoiler and clipped the audio, fading the next track in as he checked his watch. It was 10:33 and time for him to take a bit of a break, standing up and stretching luxuriously. His favorite time of night was just after 10 when everybody had left and he could sit in the quiet of the conference room and just hear the silence of the city outside the studio.

And think about how he’d gotten to this point.

Well that had been one hell of a ride, from college graduate to radio jockey-- he lifted his head from the cushion pile beneath him and blinked. He could have sworn he’d heard voices, heart pounding against his sternum as he sat upright and set his can down on the table. _Is someone here?_ He lifted his fists defensively, moving towards the beam of light coming in through the hallway door. _Remember what Annie said, elbows in and fists high._ He peered around the corner and found no one, ears pricking against the screaming silence of the hallway.

“Hello?” He called, just to make himself feel better. _Imagine if someone answered back._ A shudder of fear went down his spine.

_“Hello,”_ a deep voice answered, _“if you’re just tuning in this is Levi with your_ Captain’s Choice _here on 99 point 9 The Corps_.” Eren’s heart dropped and a wave of relief washed over him.

“Who left the radio in the break room on? What assholes…” he muttered and walked over to the kitchenette, making to turn the offending sound off.

_“Something a little more contemporary this evening for an actual special child somewhere out there in Sina,”_ his voice made Eren’s blood rush, velvet against his eardrums and coal in his veins. _Levi._ He’d been Eren’s nightly show for the past two years, the person who’d inspired him to start working at WSRM of all places. The first bars of ‘Rollover DJ’ by Jet had Eren rushing to his headset and pounding in a different song to the queued playlist.

“Wait,” he said aloud. _What makes me think he’s talking about me?_ His fingers stilled on the slides, heart pounding in his chest. _Or that he’s even listened to me._

But he was really the only show that overlapped with Levi’s broadcast, right? He drummed his fingers on the console, eyes flickering over the VU meters to his left out of habit. _But if I change a song and dedicate it to him…_ he hummed and flicked his fingers against the mouse, selecting a new song for the playlist.

* * *

Levi dropped his audio into the line-up, running his fingers through his hair with a yawn. It was never a particularly late night but after a while the silence was boring and hearing some of the same songs was boring pretty much everything was boring if he was going to be honest… he stepped out of the booth and made his way to the break room for coffee, hesitating in the hallway as he heard a familiar, irritating voice.

_“...something a little contemporary of my own,”_ Levi choked and heard a chair run along the floor.

“Levi?” Hanji grinned as she peered around the corner. “Were you listening~?”

_“What you want from me? What you doin to me? What you want from me? You're just fucking killing me--”_ The song was the only thing running around Levi’s head for a moment as he stared Hanji down, snorting and looking away. _‘Yeah Yeah Yeah’ by New Politics… what a moron._ He turned his back to her.

“Turn that shit off.”

“You were listening.”

“You fuckin’ asswipe I told you to _turn that shit off,”_ Levi threatened.

“Sure, sure…” she muttered. “I think he’s kind of sweet.”

“Shut yer fuckin’ mouth,” he turned and swept back off to his booth and Hanji could have sworn a smile flickered across his face as he did.

_Did he do something?_ She tapped her lip thoughtfully.


	2. Nicotine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren's life starts a downward spiral. Levi is a bad influence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So wow there's been some intense response to this story from some good friends of mine so I decided I'd post the second chapter out of sheer spite of all my readers who want me to update everything else this quickly. (Sorry about that I'm having a bit of writer's block... heh...)
> 
>  **tumblr:** thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
>  **tracking:** fic: up all night

  
_You don't know me, baby_   
_But I was hoping we could try_   
_For a long shot you and I_

_What if we take a chance?_   
_What if you break your plans_   
_And let me sweep you off your feet?_   
_You say you hate romance_   
_But I'm a persistent man_   
_And I want you here with me_

‘Longshot’ - Nevertheless

* * *

Armin carried his clipboard into the meeting room, flicking the lights on, “Oh hell…” He saw a lean form stretched out on one of the couches beneath a beaten leather jacket. “Eren,” he shook him gently. “Eren what are you doing here?”

“Huh?” He sat up quickly, long brown strands sticking out every which way, displacing the jacket. His turquoise eyes shifted from confusion to fear the moment they settled on Armin’s face. “Oh damn I…”

“You fell asleep here, did you call Jean?” Armin’s knitted brows made Eren’s stomach churn.

“He’s going to be really mad,” Eren grabbed for his phone, biting his bottom lip.

“Is there something going on with you two? it seemed a little tense yesterday,” Armin sat next to him. Eren’s broad hands curled around the touch screen, cradling it as he sighed. “Eren?” He reached up and rubbed his palm over his broad, muscular shoulders.

“He’s been really irritated with me lately…” he slid his fingers over the glass for a moment, looking up when Armin squeezed his neck gently.

“Well I’m sure it’s just because you’ve both been busy,” Armin offered with a smile. “Why don’t you rec your stuff for tonight and drop it into a playlist? I’ll set it up and keep it running and you can have dinner with Jean.”

“Are you sure about that?” Eren’s puppy eyes made Armin sigh a laugh.

“You’re adorable, make your recs and drop them. I promise everything will be okay,” he laughed again when Eren wrapped him up against his chest and buried his face into his shoulder.

* * *

He took a drag on his cigarette, flicking the ashes off onto the sidewalk. They burned there for a moment before fading out, like a metaphor for a rise to power. He huffed at his own thought and sighed smoke out his nostrils, thinking again about quitting because the dirty looks he got from his coworkers almost wasn’t worth it.

“What are you up to now?” Erwin’s obnoxious voice filtered into his consciousness.

“Smoking a cigarette,” he responded curtly and offered the pack to his blonde superior.

“No I’m quitting,” Erwin grumbled and Levi suddenly understood why his mood had been so sour the day before.

“Are you sure? One might help your nerves,” Levi waggled the box at him.

“Levi,” his voice warned and Levi chuckled, pressing the end of his fresh cigarette to the cinders of the old. “Chain smoking yourself into an early grave.”

“When I get lung cancer I’ll quit, how’s that? Besides, my voice is still audio sex and my ratings know it,” Levi purred as he stubbed out the other in the ashtray beside the door. “How were they last night, anyway?”

“Not any worse than usual, they dropped at about 10:15, though.”

“That kid’s listening to my show, you know?” Levi asked as he breathed smoke out into the cool October air.

“Is he, now? Well that’s an interesting development… how do you know?” Erwin asked. “You didn’t…”

“I may have issued a little challenge… just to see what he’d do, if he did anything,” he blinked away the heat and smirked. Okay so he was really just shooting blanks, irritated with the overlap and picking away at the new DJ, letting him know he was there… intimidating him was what he had wanted… and he’d ended up with a response. Little shit. He thought fondly. Ballsy.

“Jesus don’t give them more publicity-- give me one of those for Christsake,” Levi’s winning ‘hmph’ grated his nerves further if the twitch in Erwin’s eye was anything to go by.

“I wasn’t, I didn’t mention him by name or anything, don’t worry about it he isn’t much of a threat.”

“You keep saying that, just be careful not to get into too much of a rivalry with this kid, okay? I know you want to crush him and I do too but it’s better to just keep the attention on you and off him,” Erwin warned.

“Alright, alright don’t get your panties in a bunch,” Levi snorted derisively as he blew out yet another stream of smoke, watching it mingle with Erwin’s as the taller man sighed heavily.

“Levi, promise me you won’t start anything with this kid, just ignore him.”

“Yeah, yeah I won’t I promise. The Captain’s not about to involve himself in some petty turf war.”

* * *

Eren hurried up the stairs and into the carpeted hallway of the apartment building, still chilled from the outside as his fingers fumbled with his keys. _Jean is going to yell_. The objects in his hand clinked when they hit the ground, and he jolted down to get them, pausing when his fingertips brushed the key ring.

Would he really yell? Eren fingered the keys for a moment, lifting them up off the ground. Jean had grown more and more reserved with Eren lately… nothing like their usual row whenever Eren came home about whatever was wrong with the apartment. Usually they bickered and argued and butted heads about everything under the sun but lately…

“Oh you’re here,” the door opened to a familiar face with a messy fall of hair over his brows.

“Look don’t… start…” Eren muttered as he tried to walk into the apartment only to be stopped by his boyfriend.

“Eren I don’t… want to talk about this. I just got home from work and I’m really tired okay?” Golden eyes searched his face and Eren felt his stomach churn.

“What’s going on? Why aren’t you… like all my stuff is in there!” Eren frowned, fear beginning to creep down his neck.

“Alright… you can come and… get your stuff,” Jean opened the door a little wider and Eren pushed past him.

“What’s your fucking problem anyway?” Eren thought that maybe, just maybe, if he could get him yelling it would all be okay. That maybe he’d have Jean on his knees, fingers clawing on the bed sheets for purchase. Or maybe he’d come out on bottom and ride him out until he couldn’t watch his stupid horse face anymore and sweat was dripping down his thighs… _What the fuck is wrong with me today?_ He smiled vaguely at his boyfriend.

“You’re my problem, Eren,” Jean muttered. “You’re never home…”

“Well I’m working _Jean_ and you’ve been working and it’s not like fucking college anymore!” His voice raised just slightly. _Make him angry. Please just be angry with me._

“Eren you’ve been working there for three months and I’m happy for you! I’m glad you’re not working a service job or living off tips but… I almost miss couch potato you…” Jean’s tone didn’t change and it terrified the _ever living daylights_ out of him.

“What?” Incredulity trickled onto his brow and he let the bright red messenger bag he’d carried since college slip to the floor. “What are you… talking about?”

“I could come home and… you’d be here and we could talk or watch movies or relax… or go out dinner or _fuck_ or literally anything I haven’t been able to do for three months!”

“ _Fucking_?” Eren’s voice really did raise in anger this time. “ _That’s_ what you’re worried about? That I’m not here to get your _rocks_ off?”

“Eren you know that’s not what I said,” there was a dangerous edge to his voice that Eren ignored. “I miss you, I just want you here.”

“What so now I’m a fucking housewife? I shouldn’t work or do anything I like because you’re here? How am I supposed to fucking pay my bills?” Eren scowled. “We set up a schedule! A way to see each other!”

“YOU DON’T EVEN COME HOME!” His shout shattered his facade. “You said you’d be home last night and you fucking slept at the station! You say all kinds of shit!”

“Yeah I say all kinds of shit! I say that I’m going to do the dishes and I never do it!”

“Eren this is our relationship!” Jean snapped. “You can’t just say one thing and do another! We’ve been together for two years! Who the hell do you think you’re trying to fool!”

“An _idiot_ obviously!” Eren could feel his heart breaking. He bore the responsibility; he knew that. He knew he’d spent more time at the station than he should have… that he hadn’t been answering Jean’s texts and ignoring requests to come home… he didn’t really know why. Maybe it was the future that scared him, the idea of thinking further ahead than right now… understanding he wouldn’t get to be the hip young radio DJ forever.

“I wish you’d never have found this fucking job! I’m sorry you ever fucking found it! Do you even know what’s going on in my life?”

“All the same stuff!” Eren snapped. “Annoying kids, annoying teachers, not enough time in the day!”

“Did you know that last night was our anniversary?”

Eren’s lips froze on his words, green eyes flickering.

“Did you know that you promised to record everything and come home last Friday? That I came by the station to remind you to come home yesterday?”

Eren glanced over at the flowers on the table; they had always been their private joke… red roses were so stupid and cliche but they always bought them for each other. Just because they could laugh at each other and pretend like it didn’t really mean anything to them either. “That’s a nice vase…”

“Yeah well they were sitting on the table at dinner,” Jean muttered. “It was really good…”

Eren threw himself down on the couch, shoving his hands into his pockets. He swallowed hard, dropping his head back onto the cushions, “We can work this out, right?”

“Eren this is the longest conversation I’ve had with you for weeks.”

“But we’ve been together for… I mean all of senior year and…”

“Eren I can’t do this,” Jean said again.

“Jean,” he sat up and looked at him imploringly. “You’re just angry. Why don’t you… just calm down?”

“ _Just_ ,” Jean’s voice was vicious and Eren flinched. “You know my mother fell and broke her wrist last Tuesday?”

“What the fuck? Why didn’t you--”

“Eren! EREN NOTHING MATTERS TO YOU BUT THAT STUPID RADIO SHOW!” Jean barked. “I called you! I called you four times! But you were _in the booth_ and then you just…”

“I… slept at the station,” Eren’s voice grew quiet as he sat forward, covering his face with this hands.

“And then it just… she’s fine… you know? But it’s still… you didn’t even _know_ and…” He pushed his fingers into the thatch of hair atop his head. “I don’t know what the hell is going on with you lately! Are you avoiding me?”

“No! I just… want…”

“What the hell do you want, Eren? Because it’s about fucking time you decided. The rest of us are passing you the fuck up and you’re still floundering. You’re still waking up at 2 PM and going to sleep at 4 AM and fucking wasting away your life on worthless shit!”

“ _My job is not worthless_ ,” Eren’s voice bridged near dangerous. “You know what I went through after graduation!”

“Of course I do! I watched you fucking waste away god damn it! Who’s the one who fucking DD’ed for you? Who’s the one who had to watch the person they love puke their guts out in a side alley because they were drinking away their god damned life? You were living for the god damned weekends and even then you wasted those away half-drunk and completely hungover!”

“But I’m better! I’m healthy now! I’m not a fucking alcoholic and I’m not smoking and I’m _fucking doing something I love_.”

“Your degree is in _biology_ why don’t you fucking do something with it?!”

“BECAUSE I NEVER WANTED THAT!” Eren was on his feet, knuckles white. “YOU KNOW THAT! YOU KNEW THAT! OR HAVE YOU JUST FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING ABOUT ME?!”

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE ANYMORE!” Jean bellowed back. “YOU WANTED TO BE A DOCTOR!”

“WELL I DIDN’T DO THAT DID I!?” Eren grabbed his bag and kicked the coffee table out of the way. “Get the hell out of my way, Jean.” He snarled when his boyfriend threw out his arm to stop him.

“I’m not done talking to you yet!”

“I’M DONE TALKING TO _YOU_!” Eren shoved him out of the way and made for the door, slamming it behind him so hard the pictures on the walls rattled. He walked out to his car and threw his bag down, cramming himself into the front seat and banging his head against the steering wheel. _Fuck_. He gripped the leather and grit his teeth together, taking a few deep breaths in the cold of the car until his jaw began to chatter. _Fuck_. He thought it again, starting his car and taking in a deep breath.

What he could really use right now was a cigarette or a stiff drink. Maybe both.

* * *

Levi leaned against the wall outside the break room, irritated when he realized Hanji and several interns were now gathered to listen to the boy they had all been whispering about. _DJ Jaeger._ He scoffed and fiddled with the unlit cigarette in his fingers, bringing it to his mouth. _What a stupid name._

“ _This evening’s first choice here on Up All Night is dedicated to a man with a face for radio and a voice from the gods_ ,” Jaeger’s smooth tones faded into the opening for _Come One, Come All_ by All Time Low and Levi couldn’t have rolled his eyes any harder or they might have popped right out of his skull. “... _I’ve got a bone to pick with you Mr. DJ, the traffic in the sound is just as bad as it is in LA_ …”

“Levi! I knew it!” Petra’s voice had found him.

“... _before I find out where you broadcast from because your playlist is killin’ me_ …”

“Oh for fuck’s sake!” Levi started off towards the booth again, tucking his cigarette behind his ear.

Petra giggled and looked back at Hanji, “A face for radio?”

“I mean I kind of agree with him,” Hanji grinned.

“Hey! Levi’s a handsome guy.”

“With a nicotine addiction and more baggage under his eyes than on his back. He’s fussy and grumpy and adorable but he’s certainly not _handsome_.”

“Well then who do you think is handsome?” Petra pursed her lips.

“Erwin.”

“Of course, Erwin,” she rolled her eyes. “C’mon do you need a ride home?”

“Sure,” Hanji agreed and shut the radio off.

In the other room Levi was specifically selecting a song and crafting a response, “Some people have opinions that I don’t necessarily agree with; even if I did agree this would still be my response, still a little more contemporary than I like but... Good night ladies and gentlemen from every walk of life; this is Captain Levi signing off, see you tomorrow at the same time here on 99.9 The Corps,” the first bars of _I Don’t Care_ by Fall Out Boy were set to loop over the last portion.

But really he was actually starting to care a little, he almost admitted to himself as he walked to his car and lit a cigarette. _This stupid piece of shit._ He frowned, sinking down in the driver’s seat. _I wonder what his story is._ His finger hovered over the console, hesitating to change the station… what would he hear? Would the kid even hear his ploy? He jabbed at the screen with finality, rolling his window down part way to flick the ashes of his cigarette out.

“... _Here in a few minutes we’re going to be taking callers; so if you’re feeling lonely and want to make a request or just talk go ahead and call me up here at the 104.5 WSRM studios even if you really don’t care what I think_ …”

Levi nearly smiled, and rolled the window back up. _Stupid brat._

* * *

Eren leaned back in his seat, folding his arms behind his head. His little ongoing song war with Levi took his mind off Jean for the moment… off just exactly what could possibly happen between them. Or not happen between them.

 _Are we going to break up?_ Eren fiddled with the case on his phone, eyes dark. _Why is everything falling apart?_ He stared at the carpeted ceiling of his recording booth, humming along with the song on his playlist.

The only thing at this moment that was certain was Levi.

A voice on a radio that seemed to be responding to him through music and words; even if they were always snarky responses. Eren smiled at that thought, as if he were getting to know this man through his song choices. As if they were drawing closer together even though they were miles apart.

He lifted his hand when his phone vibrated, glancing at the text from Jean. His words made his heart sink and he bit the inside of his lip hard.

**I think maybe we need to take some time apart. Get our lives back on track and see if we still belong together.**

Eren swallowed, covering his mouth with his hand. Jean had been a constant, like all his other friends, though the shittiest year and a half of his life… and now he’d screwed it up? He didn’t know what to do without him…

‘Sure.’ Because what else was he supposed to say in response?

**Come by and get your stuff tomorrow morning while I’m gone.**

Eren sat up and buried his face in his hands, elbows digging into his knees as he pressed his palms against his eyelids. _Don’t cry._ His shoulders shivered. _Don’t cry god damn it._ He sobbed lightly as fear and heartbreak spilled into his chest, the ache settling there and rolling in his lungs until he was sobbing into the console.

But no one was going to hear him. Not there in that sound proof booth.

And maybe it was better that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading~ 
> 
> Chapter title 'Nicotine' by Panic! at the Disco.


	3. I can talk.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eren recovers a little. A Beatles battle begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's the next chapter, just kind of a silly one right now. I told you this was a fluffy fic. Haha. No sadness here. Nope.
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: up all night

 

 

  
_Hey I just met you_  
 _And this is crazy_  
 _But here's my number_  
 _So call me maybe_  
 _It's hard to look right at you baby_  
 _But here's my number_  
 _So call me maybe_

‘Call Me Maybe’ - Carley Rae Jepsen

 

* * *

 

The next week dragged by so miserably that Eren almost thought he was back in college; sleeping on couches and living on ramen noodles. He was wearing the same hoodie for the second day in a row after showering at Armin’s apartment, messy brown hair ruffled from air drying beneath his beanie, eyes red rimmed and shadowed from worry and the tears that still came from time to time.

His fans seemed to have noticed his tapering away from updating his Twitterfeed, and that his music choices had taken a rather bitter turn towards break-up songs, and suddenly the internet was aflame with concern for him. More and more people tuned into the station to talk to him, to shower him with affection after his break up, or what they assumed was his break up, he never spoke much about his personal life.

Everything had left him feeling worse than before and now, sitting in the cold in his car with his head against the steering wheel, he was miserable and crying into his fingers to the whining of Nevertheless playing through his speakers. He jumped at the knock on his window, looking up with bewildered green eyes.

“Oi!” The man knocked again and Eren rolled down his window. “You’re in my fucking-- what the hell? Are you fucking crying?” The man’s voice was smooth and deep, but it softened at the end of his sentence.

“Uh sorry I… wh-what did I do?” Eren looked up at him, sniffling roughly. “Ugh I’m sorry…”

“It’s… I was just saying that you’re parked in my… space…” he sucked his teeth impatiently.

“Ah shit… I’ll-I’ll move…”

“Yeah it looks like you’ve already done that… straight into your car,” the man leaned down to look in his window.

“Hey! That’s my private business and…” his lip trembled.

“Shit, don’t fucking cry on me… let’s… damn it get out of the fucking car,” the man flicked his cigarette off to to the side.

“What?” This was becoming more confusing by the second.

“It’s worthless to just sit out here and cry over some girl in your car, come get coffee I’ll buy…” He offered.

“Wh-What?” His rough voice cracked.

“Shit kid I’m offering you free coffee and all you can say is what? C’mon.”

“S-Sorry…” he obeyed, staggering from his car and shutting the door behind him, shoving his keys into his pocket. “Uhm…” He suddenly realized how short this man was, looking down at the top of his dark head and tracing the smooth undercut on his scalp with his eyes. _Who the hell is this guy_?

“So what are you crying about?” The man asked with that same, smooth voice. There was something familiar about it that stirred Eren’s blood and made him swallow hard.

“I… just went through a break-up…” Eren sounded uncertain, flicking a few pieces of his brown hair between his fingers.

“Is that all?” He arched an eyebrow.

“I… don’t want to spill my heart out to some stranger in a coffee shop…” Eren muttered, following him into the Starbucks with his hands shoved deep into his hoodie pouch.

“Who better? Obviously if you’re sobbing alone in your car your friends aren’t helping much… so who better than a stranger that’s paying for your parking space?” Now that they were inside and Eren’s eyes weren't blurry with tears he realized just how _pretty_ this man was: His face was sloped and angled in all the right places, nose straight and unblemished. Heavy lidded eyes that would have been unattractive on anyone else if they weren’t hooding a pair of dark blue irises that Eren was sure someone had written songs about.

“Uh… well I guess you’re right,” Eren furrowed his brows. “My name’s Eren.”

“Sure... I want the usual,” he said to the girl behind the counter before Eren ordered.

It was quiet at the tiny cafè table as Eren took a sip of his drink, staring down the strange man across the table from him, wondering just what he was thinking about. _Should I say something? What do I say? Do I just start talking?_ This man was comfortable, somehow, familiar as if he'd met him once before and just couldn't remember it.  _What's going on with me lately?_

Levi, on the other hand, was watching this weird boy that had stolen his usual parking space watch _him_. He wondered what his story was, how he’d ended up apparently homeless and depressed. He was handsome, perhaps more handsome than Levi cared to admit but he also didn’t want to admit that it had been a long time since he’d bothered to spend any time being attracted to random hot strangers.

“I graduated from college two years ago,” Eren started finally as he picked apart the cardboard sleeve and began to strip it apart at the corrugations.

 _Here we go… people always want to talk about themselves_. He knew that from his years of talking on the radio, people would call in and tell you their life stories if you were quiet enough. He supposed he enjoyed it in some way… being able to help them calm themselves.

“And I was all ready to go to medical school, I have a degree in Biochemistry and… well that’s what I thought I wanted to do and I spent forever just wanting to be a doctor and help people you know?”

“Medical school is a hard choice,” Levi hummed. “So you didn’t go?”

“I couldn’t… I couldn’t get it…” he choked, bangs hiding his eyes. “I had the grades and the scores but… something wasn’t right I guess… I did my interviews and… all my recs were good…” He released a shaky sigh.

“So you try again.”

“I did… same result…” Eren muttered. “I waited around for a whole year and worked as a fucking waiter at some piece of shit restaurant…”

“Why not go to grad school?”

“I didn’t want to be in debt… not more than I already was…”

“Huh…”

“And then I got this new job and it keeps me away from home at night and my boyfriend got really upset… okay so… I neglected him…” he muttered. “I was so upset that he’d gotten his dream job and… he was so happy coaching and teaching and I… was just there…”

“So you were jealous?” _Score_. Levi couldn’t believe he was hot and gay. There must be something he’s missing.

“Geez you get right to the point… yeah I guess… I mean he was there for me and stuff but I…” He hesitated. “I was just petty and I ignored him because I… was feeling sorry for myself. He got to do the thing he loves and I…”

“Were a washed up college student with no money and no real job?” Levi offered.

“Yeah…” Eren sighed. “So we broke up… I wasn’t emotionally there for him and…”

“Does the break-up bother you that much?”

“What?” Eren looked surprised.

“Is it really that you were in love with this guy or is it really that you don’t want to lose anything else more than you’ve already lost? That this blow hit you hard not because you’re particularly depressed at losing this person but rather that your boyfriend was a convenience? Something you had but took for granted?” His glinting eyes took in the way the boy’s mouth gaped at his statements, a muscle at the corner of his mouth twitching his lips up into a smile. “And now that’s gone… and you’re upset with yourself for it.”

Eren wasn’t sure how this stranger had hit everything on the head. How within five minutes of knowing him Eren was already at his absolute mercy. Was he that easy to read? Was this guy his stalker?

“Ah shit, well I have to get to work,” Levi pulled his phone out of his pocket and stood up. “Make sure you don’t park in my spot again okay?” He answered a call and started to the door. “What the hell do you want? I’m getting coffee.”

“Sure but…” Eren turned in his chair. “Hey wait! What’s… what’s your name!?” He nearly knocked the table over as he stood, trying to scramble after him.

“See you later, Eren,” the man tipped his coffee cup to him and the door swung shut behind him.

By the time Eren had sprinted outside the dark silver Mercedes convertible was pulling out of its space and the stranger from the coffee shop was gone.

 _What the fuck_? Eren watched him go, dumbfounded.

 

* * *

 

He was nervous and excited for the first time in weeks as he set down to start his show, chewing on his nail as he dropped tracks into the playlist. “Armin!” He said his name happily as the blonde pushed open his door.

“Oh you’re smiling again?” Armin blinked at him. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know! I met this guy at this coffee shop--”

“Oh god, Eren--”

“And he was really hot and smart and intuitive and stuff!”

“So when’s the date?” Mikasa was the next to join, leaning on Armin’s shoulder with interest.

“See that’s the thing-- I don’t know his name…”

“What?” Armin sounded incredulous. “You’re telling me you met some incredible stranger in a coffeeshop and didn’t get their fucking name?”

“I--”

“Eren! You idiot!” Annie added from across the room.

“You’re not a part of this conversation!” Mikasa called back.

“I just like to take any chance to call Eren an idiot,” the blonde answered and Mikasa laughed.

“I’m sorry! I tried to get his name but he was like… I mean he was gone before I could ask him!”

“What’s he an apparition?”

“Try ghost, it’s easier Dictionary brains,” Annie shot from her computer.

“Dictionary brains? Maybe you need a dictionary for a better insult,” Armin was quick to respond with a resounding call of ‘ _Burn_.’ from Eren. “So what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know I think I’ll… be cheeky about it and hope he listens to my show?” Eren asked curiously.

“Oh no… this might end badly…” Mikasa sighed.

“Nah it’ll be great!” Eren grinned. “I got this!”

“If you say so…” Armin sounded uncertain. _I’m just glad he’s smiling again_ …

 

* * *

 

It was ten, time to listen to a bunch of obnoxiously sad songs from an obnoxious man that thought too much of himself. Levi resigned himself to rising and walking out to the break room where Hanji and at least ten others had gathered this time. _He’s getting more and more popular… that worries me_ … He folded his arms over his chest and waited for the commercial to end.

“ _Good evening Sina City, this is DJ Jaeger here with Up All Night on 104.5 WSRM. I’ve been feeling pretty lousy lately and your responses have really lifted my spirits but I met somebody today at a coffeeshop_ \--”

 _What?_ Levi peered around the corner of the break room door.

“-- _and I didn’t catch their name… so I thought I’d dedicate the first song of the evening to you Coffeeshop Stranger… in the hope that maybe you listen to my show_ …” His voice was still rough, as it had been earlier in the day and Levi’s heart dropped. “... _I threw a wish in the well, don’t ask me I’ll never tell, I looked to you as it fell_ \--”

 _That beautiful stranger was_ this _guy_? He felt the blood drain out of his face. _Call Me Maybe? How cheesy_...

“Oooh how cute!” Petra squealed. “I love stories like these! I wonder when he decided to do a radio drama!”

“I don’t know but it’s kind of exciting!” Hanji laughed.

 _He’s talking about me_. Levi knew, beyond a doubt now, that the boy he’d found parked in his spot… that the person he’d abandoned in that Starbucks… the crying boy whose boyfriend had broken up with him… the one whom he’d read so well… _That explains everything_.

 

* * *

 

Eren whirled around in his chair, laughing at his successful sleight of hand. If that guy really was out there and was listening to his show… well maybe he had a chance. _What’s your name_? He checked his calls, answering a few to listen to screaming fangirls and a few fanboys who thought maybe they’d met him… and slowly became more and more discouraged. He was already three songs into his playlist, _Lovestruck_ by Breathe Electric thrummed in his headphones, when he picked up the phone for what felt like the hundredth time that night.

“Thanks for calling 104--”

“ _Shut up, Jesus you think you’re cute don’t you_?” The voice on the other end of the line was like velvet, smooth and burning like a gulp of aged brandy that shot straight down into his belly.

“Wh-Who is--” Eren hesitated. No.

“ _I called you. What do you want_?” The voice replied. “ _Don’t play anything like that ever again, got it? Jepsen is overplayed_.”

“Fans like it so I play it.”

“ _It’s an old song, Jaeger_.”

“So is Yellow Submarine and yet somehow people still request it.”

“ _Beatles are classic, Jepsen’s a phase. Don’t even compare them_.”

“You played Fall Out Boy, okay?”

“ _Ha_ \--” the laugh sounded surprised. “ _You figured me out quick_.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Eren’s heart was pounding so loud in his chest he was afraid Levi might hear it. “You… really are him right? This isn’t a prank?”

“ _You honestly think I’d call if I wasn’t the idiot that banged on your window. I’m still mad you took my space to cry in, brat_.”

Eren swallowed audibly, “So…”

“ _So what? You wanted me to call you for Jesus Christ’s sake and here I fucking am what do you want_?” Impatience was evident but Eren had a feeling he would have hung up by now if he wasn’t interested.

“I… don’t know… I didn’t…” He stuttered. “You… really don’t have a face for radio…”

That time he earned a laugh, “ _You’re fucking strange, kid_.”

“S-Sorry!”

“ _I can hear you blushing from here. So what were you expecting? A love confession_?”

“N-No I just… guh…” He was more than just caught off guard… he’d just plain not expected someone to actually call… much less Levi of all people.

“ _Well hey my break’s about over so this conversation is ending. I called you. We chatted_.”

“You’re still in my way!” Eren tried his damnedest to be cute.

“ _Ha, maybe I am, see ya… Eren_.”

Eren stared at the receiver blankly, limbs numb. _Was that… really Levi_? He scrambled to the radio in the rec room, slapping it on with all his might, heart pounding.

“-- _called the Beatles old so I thought I’d show you how wrong you are_ ,” the voice he’d heard on the phone just moments before had his heart skipping. The first bars of Hello Goodbye played over the radio and Eren had to sit down on one of the broken couches, weak in the knees. “ _You say ‘Goodbye’ and I say ‘Hello, hello, hello’. I don't know why you say ‘Goodbye’, I say ‘Hello, hello, hello’_.”

“Oh my god…” _What have I started_?

 

* * *

 

A rapping on the door to the building woke Eren sharply from his sleep, sitting up groggily as the receptionist hurried to open it. “Hello? Oh thank you…” Christa’s voice was soft and lyrical. “Wow these are nice…” She walked into the room with something massive in her arms.

“What the hell is this?” Annie arched an eyebrow, the blonde folded her arms over her chest in irritation.

“Flowers!” Christa answered happily.

“For who? For you?” Armin asked and she set them down on the coffee table. “This is…”

“ _Roses_ ,” Eren breathed as soon as his glasses were on. Two dozens of them in fact, in red and white and peach, and he lifted his fingers to touch the petals, green eyes soft as he slipped the little card out of the clip.

“Hey those aren’t yours!” Mikasa scolded as she walked in.

“Actually…” Christa smiled weakly.

“What? Are you kidding?” Armin gaped.

“Someone sent you roses?” Annie sounded incredulous.

“Yeah…” Eren flipped open the tiny card and chewed at his bottom lip, praying they were from who he thought.

 _'If you call me out on the air again I’ll make you regret it. The Beatles aren’t old._ ’ And Eren slapped the paper against his mouth in excitement upon seeing the familiar signature.

“He’s fucking stupid,” Eren said aloud.

“What’s happening?” Armin looked bewildered. “Why roses?”

“Haha! _Then there was music and wonderful roses, they tell me in sweet fragrant meadows, of dawn and dew_ ~” He buried his face in his hands and for a long time remained quiet. “He was… making a Beatles reference…”

“Who’s he? The guy from the coffeeshop?” Armin asked curiously. “Did it work?”

“Yeah… it did…” In the weirdest way imaginable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "I Can Talk" by Two Door Cinema Club.
> 
> The song Eren's singing is called "Till There Was You" sung by The Beatles. (It's actually from a musical called 'The Music Man'.)


	4. Whiskey on your tongue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Armin is always the voice of reason when Eren needs it most, even if he doesn't realize it at the time. Levi really hates college students.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so I'm finally getting back onto my schedule again so here's this, sorry it's so late.
> 
> Not much back and forth this chapter unfortunately but I don't think you'll be too disappointed. ;D
> 
> tumblr: thingsishouldntbedoing
> 
> tracking: fic: up all night

 

_Something in your kiss,_   
_Made my body electric,_   
_You set me free._   
_That night, brought to life,_   
_For the magic that's inside,_   
_Of you and me._

  
_Wherever you are,_   
_You are forever on my mind._

"Wherever You Are" - Ke$ha

* * *

 

Eren spent the next day in a tizzy, humming whatever song came to mind and chatting jovially with his sister and her girlfriend. He went out and had lunch with Armin, even volunteered to attend a concert that Friday. Not that staying for the after party wasn’t a plus. The thought of drowning everything in booze and a drunken one night stand sounded pretty good.

In the meantime his battle with Levi had continued without fail, blasting ridiculous songs back and forth. This evening Eren was hoping to get the first shot in with “ _The Mighty Fall_ ” since contemporary music seemed to drive Levi crazy. Especially contemporary Fall Out Boy.  
  
“Are you still messing with Levi?” Armin asked Friday afternoon, sinking his arms around his best friend’s shoulders from behind him. “You know you’re going to get in trouble with that…” Armin glanced at where the roses were still proudly sitting on the center table in the other room.  
  
“Nah I’m not,” Eren replied happily.  
  
“Shots fired are shots heard…”  
  
“It’s playful and he’s in on it.”  
  
“I can’t believe you met him in a coffeeshop and didn’t recognize him,” Armin settled his chin on his trapezius and closed his eyes.  
  
“Yeah I feel really stupid but he seems to think it’s amusing… I dunno Armin I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”  
  
“Of course you haven’t. It’s a juvenile hero-crush and you shouldn’t act on it,” Armin muttered. “I mean I’m happy you’re happy but I can’t help--”  
  
“Don’t be so grumpy. Maybe I really like him?”  
  
“It’s really soon…”

“Now you’re just old fashioned. The whole world is moving so fast and you’re worried about something like this?”  
  
“You just… I mean you’re still getting over a relationship?” Armin tried again.  
  
“I’m over it.”  
  
“Are you really?

“Yeah, I mean we broke up it’s over…”  
  
“Eren Jaeger you fucking liar,” he scowled. “You can’t just cast aside almost three years of your life in a few weeks!”  
  
“Look I did the whole ‘cry into a bucket of ice cream while watching sappy movies’ bit. I’m ready to get back out there.”  
  
“You mean get on his cock.”  
  
“You’re so cynical today,” Eren looked up at him over his shoulder, brows knitted. “Why?”  
  
“Why aren’t you more upset? Where’s the Eren I know full of rage and fury and irrational fists? The last time you broke up with someone you tore apart your comforter.”  
  
“This is different… it was fizzling out a while ago…” But Eren could still remember; still recall everything that had transpired. Some of them still stirred his heart.  
  
“Are you sure about that?” Armin murmured. “Or did you just give up?”  
  
“Why are you acting like this? You’re my best friend, shouldn’t you be happy I kind of like someone?”  
  
“Sure I am, Eren, but I also know you better than that. Jean is still broken up about this… he thinks it’s something he did now…”  
  
“Now?” Eren’s brow relaxed and lifted in surprised. “Armin have you been talking to Jean?”  
  
“He’s my friend too, I’m not about to drop him because you broke up,” Armin scowled at him. “Just because you decided to--” 

“Are you two fighting?” Mikasa’s voice asked from the doorway, Armin unravelling his arms from around Eren’s neck.

“No we’re okay, Mikasa,” Armin assured. “Look I just don’t want you to make a mistake by running bullheadedly into something that’s just going to get you hurt again.”  
  
“Armin it’s just a crush…”  
  
“He obviously likes you.”  
  
“He likes the competition, I know that much about him, don’t worry everything is going to end up okay.”  
  
“Eren… just don’t hurt Jean in your haste to find someone else. There’s a chance you could still be friends,” Armin squeezed his shoulder gently and started towards the door.  
  
“You still like him,” Eren turned in his chair and the blonde looked at him seriously. “You had a crush on him when we first started dating and… you still like him!”  
  
“If you think for a second that I’m going to validate anything you have to say at this moment with something close to an answer then you don’t know me nearly as well as you think you do. Stop trying to start fights with me because I’m pointing out a fact. You’re going to hurt Jean when Jean didn’t do anything to deserve it. All he did was get his dream job and you resented him for that.”  
  
“That’s not all that happened! He knows it. He knows that I’m not the only one at fault! He’s been pushing me--”  
  
“To do better with yourself! You have an education! Go out and see the world! Get another degree! Learn more! Apply to med school again! Damn it Eren there are all these other things you could be doing instead of sitting here in this run down radio station exchanging love songs with a--”  
  
“With what?” Eren rose to his feet. “With what, Armin?”  
  
“I’m not going to do this with you! Do what you want because you’re an adult… just be careful of hurting everybody else,” Armin turned stiffly and walked past Mikasa.  
  
“Eren…”  
  
“I don’t want to fucking hear it, Mikasa.”  
  
“I was just going to tell you I love you,” she murmured and he looked up at her with burning eyes.  
  
“Is he right?”  
  
“I don’t know, Bro, you gotta decide that yourself…” She offered him her arms and he buried his face into her shoulders. “I just want you to be happy okay? If doing all this makes you happy then… this is what I want you to do. No matter what.”  
  
“I don’t know, Mikasa, I don’t know anything anymore.”  
  
“I wish I could help you, Eren, I really do…”  
  
“If you’re gonna make out with him can I join?” Annie added from the other side of the room and they both laughed. “Both of you look fucking depressed. Eren go get ready for your fucking night, stay safe, use a condom; girlfriend get your shit together we’re going to have dinner.”  
  
“Does this mean you’re drinking?” Mikasa asked the grumpy-looking blonde as she released her brother and pinched his cheek lightly.

“If it means you fucking smile again sure, and if you’re okay with me belly dancing on the tables like last time.”  
  
“I didn’t say drinking _tequila_ ,” Mikasa corrected.  
  
 _Leave it to Annie to be the one that cheers us up… that seems wrong._ Eren rubbed the back of his neck. He would have to worry about what was going on with Armin later, for now he had to cover the bands that had just come to town.

 

* * *

 

Levi hated picking his way through undulating, sweating bodies. If he could he would have sprayed them all with ice water just so he could get through to the bar and not have to deal with them rubbing up on each other. After parties were a perk for most DJs; drunk college students whose parents paid for their backstage pass were an easy play but Levi didn’t have any of them on his mind.

No he was thinking about his least favorite Beatles basher and his stupid song choices. He’d had Call Me Maybe stuck in his head for two days and not a single intern had missed the tune he whistled when he was pouring yet another cup of whatever Erwin claimed to pass as coffee. He wished he’d kept it to himself, that he wouldn’t have had to watch Petra giggle as she called in the flowers he asked for. Of course she figured it out and despite her insistence to the contrary that ‘ _No_ she wasn’t going to tell anyone’ the entire station was buzzing about it by the next afternoon.

“J&B, two fingers, no ice,” Levi waved his fingers at the bartender and sighed as he slid onto one of the pleather bar stools, trying to ignore the thumping club music. The boy was an irritant; a beautiful irritant that kept him up at night listening to his idiotic radio show full of phone calls and news jokes and bad puns that left Levi grinning against his will.

“Bad night?” The man behind the counter said over the din, sliding the tumbler towards him.  
  
“It’s always a bad night when I’m at a bar full of 22 year olds!” Levi replied, sipping his drink. He wasn’t sure what number this was. The beer at the concert hadn’t been enough to drown whatever idiotic thoughts he had of going home and--

“Shit sorry!” Someone crashed into him, scotch slopping out of his glass at over his nose and mouth. “Shit I’m so sorry.”  
  
“Watch where the fuck you’re going you piece of shit!” Levi wiped his face as the half-drunk frat boy leaned on the bar for support.  
  
“I said sorry man,” Levi shoved him away in response.  
  
“Just get the fuck out of my--” It all happened in slow motion: the body moving away from him, the person to his right turning to look at him, a pair of eyes locking into his. For a long moment he could have heard a pin drop, eyes widening.  
  
“Levi?” The sound around him returned with a boom, fixated on the boy now leaning towards him curiously.  
  
“Jaeger?”  
  
“How long have you been sitting there!?” His face took on a light of foggy excitement, softened from the alcohol, but the sloppy smile that spilled over his face was more than enough to have Levi downing the last of his drink and gesturing for another.  
  
“Just a few minutes, how about you?” From the number of empty beer bottles the barkeep was pulling away he had the feeling Eren had been drinking to forget that meant he’d been there a little too long.

“You know you’re really pretty~”

“How many has he had?”  
  
“Enough,” the bartender replied. “But he’s not botherin’ anybody.”  
  
“He’s bothering me,” Levi finished the second glass he’d ordered as Eren giggled. “Did you come with anyone?” He was starting to feel hot as the alcohol settled into his bloodstream, unbuttoning his shirt just slightly.  
  
“No I came here to do… to talk to the bands…” He bobbled the bottle of beer in his hands, the glass chinking on the wooden bar. “I just got done and… thought I’d have a drink…”  
  
“So no boyfriend?”  
  
“Nope. We’re really broke up now.”  
  
“Ah…” Levi mulled this thought around in his head, weighing his options. He had an inebriated disc jockey at his mercy. A _beautiful_ inebriated disc jockey.  
  
“Y’know I never got ta thank you…”  
  
“For what?”  
  
“Am I dreaming? Like you’re not really here are you?” Eren reached out to touch him, missing by a few inches. “Like it’s impossible…”  
  
“Quit saying _like_ you are not a teenager, fuck I just wanted to have a drink and pretend I’m not here and now _you’re_ here.”  
  
“You sent me _flowers~_ ” Eren purred at him. “Eren… you know my name right? I’m Eren.”  
  
“I know your name, asswipe,” Levi couldn’t decide if he was more irritated with himself for considering taking him home or Eren for being an inebriated dickweed.  
  
“I _aalllwaaayyss_ listen to yer show kay? It’s… it’s like the reason I wanted to be… on the show?” He lingered on his s’s as if they were juicy, as if the flavor of them made him want more.  
  
“Oh…” he rolled his eyes and let out a noncommittal noise, trying to ignore how the dark flush in the toppling boy’s face made something stir in his chest.  
  
“I… even when I didn’t… go home I would lissen to you…” A hand caught his knee and Levi lifted his eyes. “Jean got so mad…”  
  
“Boyfriend?”  
  
“No boyfriend-- oh yeah he… Jean’s my ex…”  he said after a moment of alcohol induced thought.  
  
“Ah… you listened to my show…” he could picture him now; stretched out on his bed with his earphones over his head. Of course he’d listen on his iPod, Levi wasn’t sure anyone even owned a real radio anymore, with Levi’s voice as close to his eardrums as he could get. Levi could see him smile at all the stupid jokes, see him close his eyes when Levi spoke about whatever topic was on that night’s agenda, see his tanned fingers sliding down the firm flesh of his abdomen. _Fuck._ “It’s loud here and you’re fucking drunk. I’ll get you a cab.” _I’ll get you the fuck away from me._ He pulled on his jacket and pulled Eren up by the arm.  
  
Levi wasn’t really sure what he was expecting when they made it to the sidewalk but it wasn’t the arms around his waist or the mouth against his. Eren pressed Levi’s body flush against his, too drunk to care that they were standing on the side of the road in the middle of the night.  
  
“The fuck is wrong with you?” Levi muttered against his lips, lifting his hand to stop a cab, but his free fingers caught the back of his neck. _Even drunk he’s a good kisser_. He liked the way Eren licked at his lips and stroked his tongue and searched his mouth until he was panting steam into the air between them. Until he’d almost forgotten he’d summoned a cab. The horn interrupted them and Eren leaned heavily against him, starting to feel his drinks. “Don’t you have any self control?” Levi muttered, licking his lips.  
  
“I want you.”  
  
“That’s too bad isn’t it?”  
  
“You want me.”  
  
“I do not, come on and get in the cab you worthless slug,” he pushed him around and bent him into the car and barked the directions to the driver. Eren looked a little dejected, and maybe a little green, reaching over to touch Levi curiously on the arm before curving his fingers around his knee. “Stop touching me.”  
  
“Why don’t you like me?” Eren asked sadly. “I like you… you sent me roses…”  
  
“It was just a joke, jesus you take everything so seriously…” Levi tried to dismiss the way his pleading voice stirred in his belly and burned his heart. The image from earlier returned; of Eren’s head thrown back, brown hair damp with sweat, moaning at each stroke of his-- _shit_ why was he always thinking about sex with this kid?

“You have a nice voice…” Eren murmured, a little like a scolded child.  
  
“Why don’t you call somebody? So that when we get to my place they can come get you?” Levi interrupted him.  
  
“Can’t I kiss you more?”  
  
“No, look my job has long hours and I don’t like--” The next kiss shouldn’t have surprised him, the way that big, soft hand caught the side of his face and drew him in or the way the muscular arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him close… none of it _should_ have surprised him. But it still left him breathless and half drunk on his kisses.  
  
“Don’t make excuses,” Eren growled into his mouth and Levi could almost taste the lust.  
  
He supposed that was how he had ended up on his couch with Eren in his lap. Levi also supposed he could make some excuse: he was drunk and made a bad decision, Eren was drunk and persistent, he hadn’t had any in a long time… but really the thought of fucking his ratings rival on his couch half drunk in the middle of the night sounded pretty damned good when Eren was licking over his collarbone and making all the wonderful wet sounds that went with it. When Eren was murmuring his name drunkenly against his ear as he let Levi’s hands glide up the back of his shirt and trace the hard line of his spine, grabbing for the couch for support and slipping.  
  
“S-Sorry,” Eren muttered, laughing nervously against Levi’s neck.  
  
“For what?” He opened his eyes, looking up at him and letting his fingers trail over the soft angles of his muscles.  
  
“I don’t know…” He caught his face in his hands and kissed him, slow and soft and deep in a way his kisses hadn’t been before. 

It left Levi breathless, hands bracing against the soft skin of his back for desperate purchase, he couldn’t remember if anyone had ever kissed him like that. If anyone had taken the time to kiss his lips again and again, biting and sucking and delving their tongue deep to entangle with his. It was enough to keep them that way, holding onto each other for dear life, curling up into a tangle of sloppy limbs and kisses and stroking hands.  
  
In some ways it was the worst way for the night to end, Levi thought as he lay nestled in the warmth of Eren’s arms and legs with their mouths inches apart. It meant that the next morning there would be explanations and confusion and maybe some hurtful words… but when Eren nuzzled closer for yet another soft, warm kiss… that didn’t seem to matter as much anymore. Nothing seemed to matter as much as it should with Eren in his arms and Eren on his lips.

“T’morrow we should have pancakes…” Eren whispered against his mouth.  
  
“I’m too drunk to think about waking up, kid.”  
  
“We’ll just… sit around and do nothing together…”  
  
“You’re getting a little too comfortable,” but Levi’s heart stirred.  
  
“You think too much,” Eren reprimanded and kissed him again, pulling him closer and entangling their legs together further. “Don’ think just… kiss me… I don’ wanna think…” he smothered whatever answer Levi had with another one of his breathless kisses that left Levi wondering if they were hot or romantic. 

 _So he doesn’t want to think..._  
  
Come to think of it… Levi really didn’t either.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from "Wherever You Are" by Ke$ha.


End file.
